


There ain't no road just like it

by sonicsora



Category: Brütal Legend
Genre: Ass-Kicking, Canonical Character Death, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Gen, Idiots in Love, Love at first fist fight, M/M, Roughhousing, Unofficial Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2019-06-06 17:17:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15199637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonicsora/pseuds/sonicsora
Summary: When Ironheade and what's left of The Drowning Doom realize who Eddie's mother was, Eddie is left on the fringes of society alone. What he had done to Ophelia is repaid back to him it seems.Well, sort of. Fletus, leader of The Freeks steps in and offers him friendship and a little bit more. Their rivalry is put on hold in place of something new and a little strange.





	1. From rags on up to riches fifteen minutes you can fly

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BrutalHearts666](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrutalHearts666/gifts).



> welp, would you look at this, another fic of Eddie being kicked out of his faction. _This_ time tho its based on cut content from Brutal Legend! The game originally had Eddie being ejected from the two factions he united and stumbling in with the Freeks. I love the idea so I had to write a fic about it. 
> 
> Of course, it somehow ended up as Eddie/Fletus. I cannot resist the urge to ship. It started kind of an off-handed joke about _how_ Eddie could even kiss Fletus then it evolved rapidly into something more serious from there. Whoops. 
> 
> I blame brutalhearts666 the resident brutal meme emperor.
> 
> IDk what the canon spelling of freeks is, so I'm going with a double e here.

Eddie finds himself standing alone in the landscape, stunned and silent as Ironheade and The Drowning Doom make their respective leaves. He can only swallow weakly as he staggers back to the druid plow. 

“Fuck.” Eddie almost gets into the car before he stumbles over his own feet again, collapsing onto his ass. 

He can see the dirt kicking up in the distance from vehicles getting further and further away, his stomach twists in grief. If Ophelia had survived the sea, she could have easily laughed at the irony. 

His words, his accusations about her past cast her out. 

Now, now it was his past that weighed down on him, the shadow of a monster he never knew. He doesn’t realize he’s crying until he sees tears dripping down into the dry sand under him. Eddie huddles into himself, shoulders shaking as he let himself grieve. The hot anger of the betrayal had shifted into a stunned pain. 

The sound of a car in the distance goes unnoticed until Eddie realizes he recognizes the engine. He swipes at his eyes weakly but doesn’t move. When Fletus arrives Eddie just stays where he is too tired to care. The unbound demon gets out of his car, approaching.

“You’re too human for the demons to accept and too damn demonic for the fleshbags to accept, huh?” Fletus asked dryly as he approached Eddie. He came to a stop next to the half demon, eying him. 

The roadie barely reacts to Fletus, simply keeping his face buried in his hands. His breathing was uneven and hands shaking just slightly. He turned into himself, trying to ignore the unbound demon. How the fuck did Fletus know-? Did they tell him when he drove by? The thought alone stings.

“Just… fuck off.” There was no passion or heat there. A stark contrast to every interaction the two had. “Just leave me the fuck alone. I… don’t wanna hear you being cocky, god damn it.” 

Sure, they settled the whole blood feud shit with another race, but… damn if Fletus was going to let a man he wouldn’t mind being his rival sit in a damn ditch like this. Even if Riggs was insufferable, cocky, loud and a pain in the ass- he was… almost perfect for the Freeks. He’d fit right the fuck in. Better than with those assholes who dropped him so easily. Blood came secondary to what a person was about. 

“I’d love to, but unlike your human friends, I ain’t gonna just let you sit here sulking.” That finally got Eddie to look up. “You think my people came together cause we’re just utterly fucking delighted to be together?” Fletus tipped his hat back to scratch his head. “We’re Freeks, Riggs. Means we don’t belong anywhere. Means, you belong with us for as long as you need us.”

Eddie stared at him for a long moment, exhaling. He managed a weak almost mocking laugh. “That’s your pitch?” 

Fletus narrowed his eyes at that, smacking Eddie’s shoulders with his hat. The roadie laughed again with a wince. “Are you joining or not?!” 

“If that’s how you invite new people I dunno-“ 

“Yes or no!?” 

“Yes!” He rubbed at his eyes, trying to stifle his tears. “Look. I…” 

“You’re a Freek now. You heard the blonde chick. Means you’re ours now.” 

Eddie winced a little at that, clearly still torn about the issue but trying to make the best of the situation. “Guess- so.” 

“Get off your ass and let's go.” 

“Alright, alright- simmer, Fletus.” 

\---

The urge to just stop following Fletus or drive in the opposite direction was a strong one. He just lost Ironheade, he lost everyone he knew for his past yet here he was sliding into another faction. Eddie to some degree just wanted to wallow in this feeling, but he could guess Fletus wasn't about to let him do that. Probably smack him with a hat again if he tried. 

Everything after Ophelia's death had been a whirlwind. A new leader of the doom, Crowley, emerged from the sea, taking her mantle effortlessly. Ironheade pressed into demon lands. The doom agreed to work with them after Eddie works with them to smooth over old wounds. He befriended them, he won Crowley's trust. He had gotten Lita to believe in Crowley, in what the rebellion stood for. 

Then Doviculus, that haughty bastard showed up. He showed up and ruined everything. 

After losing Lars, after the battle against Ophelia, what the fuck was left? 

Who the hell was he anymore? Son of Riggnarok, son of Succoria. What did any of that mean anymore? Who the hell was he? 

Right. 

A _Freek_. 

All Eddie can do is laugh, almost bitterly as he drives. He cranks up the radio, trying to focus on following the squealer, for once in no hurry to surpass it. 

"Maybe I'll give Fletus this win, just this once." He joked weakly to himself, words lost in the haze of dirt being kicked up by the two cars traveling through the relatively quiet desert in the twilight hours. 

Eddie could have thought the scenery beautiful, if not for the circumstances weighing so heavily down on him.


	2. Listen to the wind blow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Find a new purpose, find a new home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy the eddie angst, its happening!

The Freeks camp wasn’t what Eddie expected. 

Then again his expectations were null, he had no idea what a guy like Fletus would call home. The squealer slowed to a stop near a natural wavy canyon, walls of red sand offer some semblance of protection from the sun that usually beats down on the landscape. Now, now in the darkness torches are burning, hanging over the entryway of the valley within. 

Eddie parks the druid plow a little bit aways from Fletus, taking a moment to wipe at his eyes. Once he’s sure he’s fine, he leaps out of the drivers side, moving to join the unbound demon at the gateway leading into the canyon. Fletus waves at a sentry who lets them in wordlessly, Eddie walks with the man, hands jammed in his jean pockets. When he glances up, he’s stunned at the scenery. It isn’t Bladehenge beautiful natural greenery, but it has its own charms. 

The Freeks live in the would be junkyard of old Titan sized vehicles, monuments and shed clothes. Garbage of every shape, size, and kind lay scattered around them all housed within the canyon. The place is well lived in, paths have been carved into the rough sand underfoot, homes built from odds and ends. Only one or two tents made up of fabric dot the village. What tents there are sway in the night breeze as does clothing left on clotheslines from earlier on in the day. 

The canyon walls shield the valley from most of the sun, the shades of red rock shimmer in the firelight of torches and burning barrel drums. 

Barrel drums built out of extra parts sit around as campfires, people gather there chatting when not milling around their homes. What Eddie can only guess is some kind of beer tree grows tall in the very back of the canyon, soaking up the most sunshine when the sun is high in the sky during the day. For now the tree is decorated with glittering lights and loose bits of shiny junk. Eddie can hear music playing distantly in the background, people are singing, people are dancing, people live here. 

“Shit.” He breaths out, baffled to see something like a landfill turned into a civilization. Old cars hollowed out for parts, for homes, monuments broken down into their components. It is ingenious in an incredibly weird way. 

“You keep that up your eyes are gonna pop outta yer head.” The unbound demon laughs.

The human snorts, rolling his eyes now. “Is this why your mug is so ugly, last I checked your eyes were real bugged out.” 

“Heard better burns outta a toddler learning his first swears. C’mon ya lout.” He elbows Eddie motioning the human to follow him. Eddie does, sticking to the well trod trail Fletus goes down, the unbound demon kicking away a few loose cans on the way. 

“Good thing you got shoes on. Bottles get broken real easy round here.” 

“I know this place is a literal dump, but fucks sake.” Eddie finds himself stepping over random junk. The pathway isn’t completely cluttered, but its definitely a task and a half to walk through safely. Though the roadie can see no one else is really struggling the way he is. Eddie swears lowly pushing onwards to try and keep up with Fletus. He’s determined enough he just stomps through the next few things in his path until he looks down again. 

He gives a startled noise when he nearly steps on a Freek sleeping clutching a bottle. No wait, several bottles of booze. The Freek doesn’t even stir, just snoring loudly and wetly as he curls into himself on the pathway. 

“Uh, is he okay-?” Eddie’s question makes the demon glance back, who just snorts a little. 

“Psh? Drunkass Johnny, he’s fine.” Fletus waves his hand dismissively, unconcerned about the odd demon laying on the ground. “He gotta live up to his name. Gotta have a duty round these parts.” 

“…Riiiight.” Eddie carefully steps around the four eyed Freek, wrinkling his nose at the stench of whiskey wafting off of him. “Drunkass Johnny might wanna reconsider his title. Might kill him.” 

The unbound demon chuckles at that. “He wishes.” Fletus rolls Drunkass Johnny out of the path down the hill, the demon doesn’t even notice rolling away into the night. Eddie just blinks in confusion, awkwardly following after Fletus when the demon starts walking again. 

Eddie has to wonder what the fuck is going on. He pauses, stopping his stride as a realization settles over him. 

The roadie pinches the bridge of his nose, realizing he had kind of just went with Fletus without really thinking any of this through. “Where the hell are we headed anyway?” 

“My place. You don’t got a home yet, so I gotta scrounge your dumbass up a tent.” 

“Where is all this comin’ from?” Eddie finally asks, “Why the fuck do you care?” 

“Cause no one else will.” Fletus states matter of factly, expression cool and unimpressed. “Where else you gonna go Riggs?” 

“I-“ He opens his mouth ready to argue, temper boiling over in his chest. He wants to just yell at Fletus, scream, start a fight. It would be so easy to brawl with the other man. 

His hands drop to his side. The fight drops out of under him. 

Where else can he even go? Where else could he go? 

“Fuck off.” The fire is gone in his voice, staring at Fletus almost helplessly now.

Fletus exhales a little, moving to tug Eddie over to him. “Shit sucks, and we’re all gonna die one day, but, you’re gonna be okay soon enough.” 

Eddie chokes, hating himself for crying now of all times. It hits him like a train colliding into a car, pieces flying, broken and never to be found again. 

He’s not who he should be. He’s not who he wants to be. 

He’s a mangled monstrosity.

\----

In the end, Eddie ends up sleeping in Fletus’ dirt packed home. The unbound demon doesn’t seemed particularly bothered by it. They never talk about setting up a different tent the next few days. Eddie has a cot in the same tent, the two share space without really minding it. Not beyond the occasional barb or idle comment meant to start a fight that never comes.

Fletus simply shows Eddie around the town. Fletus takes the half-demon under his wing in the metaphorical sense. 

When asked about another tent, Fletus gives Eddie a look like he’s talking to an idiot. “Stay long as you need, you’re kind of a fucking mess. I don’t wanna come on your tent and see you sleeping in a damned heap. I got enough Freeks doing that as is.” 

Truly comforting words in a dire time in his life, but it makes Eddie laugh. “Who? Me? Look whose talkin’, asshole.” 

The two bicker idly as they walk. Eddie finds it easier to just bicker with Fletus than dwell on Ironheade or Drowning Doom. 

Along the way he notices the odd lack of women in camp. The empty houses, the memorials pinned to walls. There are questions that need answering. Fletus stumbles on a few names, Betty gets said but quickly snatched back and Eddie learns real fast not to ask about it.

Maybe he can do something for these people.


End file.
